Getting high in the Himalayas with 72 Polish virgins April 27, 2008

Okay. We are going to skip a few days because it is so long ago to write, and not too interesting. A summary or the last six days is such: Kolkata was hot, but fun. We hung out a lot at Biplop’s house. The train ride to Darjeeling was madness! Guys go up and down the hot aisles selling everything one could dream of; from stuffed animals, tea, toys, phonecalls, to full meals, sarees, etc. We snuggled close with our belongings for fear of theft in our cramped conditions. Darjeeling is a little big city nestled in the hills near the Sikkim region. It is a nice cool temperature, very hilly, there is lots of great shopping, and a cool mix of the neighboring cultures of Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. There were many rallies as the people in this region want an independant state, non-violent though. We bought lots of souvenirs, hung out a lot with friends we met, travelled to the Tibetan Refugee Center and some temples, etc. Wandering one day we had a tour guide convince us to do an 8-10 day trip into the Himalayas ending near the base of Kongchendzonga, the third tallest mountain in the world. The rest of the blog is about the trek, but really the Flickr pictures tell a better story. Check them out after the Blog.

16.4.2008

Our morning was spent sending a package of souvenirs home…not quite the simple task it might sound. They don’t use boxes to send packages, rather there is a guy sending in a corner constructing bundles…step one: wrap all the goods together in a intricate ball of stuff and tied together with string step two: put in plastic bag and tape shut. step three: wrap in newspaper. Step four: wrap in white linen and sew together. Step four: seal shut with wax along seams. This whole process took about 45 minutes and was crazy to watch. After the post office fiasco we headed back to the trekking office met our trekking partner, Boeber (means beaver in Polish), a guy from Poland and took off in our jeep filled with supplies and three mystery guys sitting in the front towards Sikkim. The ride was bumpy to say the least, honking at every blind turn to make sure that no one was coming the other direction… if some one was coming the other direction this often ended in one car backing up to a space that allowed the other to pass, with little more then inches between each vehicle…skilled drivers. It took about an hour and a half of bouncing to reach the boarder of Sikkim, where we had our permits checked ( a restricted area to travellers) got a couple stamps in the old passport and then on our way to a big town (relative) to have a snack of veggie momos (Chinese Tibetan snack a bit like a potsticker) and switched vehicles and then onwards to Yuksom our final destentation…the views were dramatic to say the least, terraced farms on what can’t be described other then steep mountain side…very impressive. We got to Yuksom around 4 ish and were shown to our guesthouse, cute farm house with outhouse…little did we know what luxury accomodations these were compared to what wast to come. Spent the rest of the day walking around the town and having dinner at a little restaurant in town and trying Thomba, local brew of fermented millet soaked in hot water, sooo good.

17.4.2008

We were woken up at 6:30am for bed tea and biscuits, exactly as it sounds, they brought us tea in bed and let us hang out in bed till breakfast…outside we got our first glimpse of Kanchenjunga our final destination…well not the top, after all it is the third highest mountain in the world. We had some breakfast, putzed around for a while the guides organized everything…so our crew (mind you for three trekkers) consisted of a guide, a cook, two porters (general helpers esp to the cook), a yakman, a horse man, two yaks, and three horses….yeah a little ridiculous but this is totally standard, I felt like a bit of child who can’t even wipe my own ass when I heard how many helpers we had.

So we took off hiking around 10ish and made a couple more stops along the way at officials to show our permits and stopped at our Yakman’s house to buy some Thomba for the road and Dave discovered that while helpful, the porters aren’t terribley delicate with the bags…our whiskey ration was broken in pieces and all that was left was some whiskey soaked undies and our copy of Lord Of the Rings twice its original size.

The first day of hiking was pretty painless and ridiculously beautiful, we felt like Bilbo Baggins off an epic adventure..only we weren’t off to steal dragon gold…if only we were. Boebr took a million and one pictures along the way. Passed over some less then safe bridges and passed many a yak and horse train headed off the montain (to set the record straight, when we say Yak, it’s usually a Dzho, a Yak/Cow mix). Getting near our campsite, one of our porters was waiting for us with hot orange juice (in a tea kettle with 4 cups), he ran to meet us and sped away just as quickly…a bit odd but who are we to complain about some hot juice, who knew how normal this would become. We made it to our camp around 2pm and lunch was ready…3 or 4 dishes hot fresh and ready. Then we hung out and watched the yak and horseman scale trees to get the tastiest leaves for their animals…had a snake of cauliflower pakora and milk tea and then all too soon later dinner of 4 or 5 different dishes…I think they are trying to make us fat…. oh and then bed tea. Final altitude 2,300 metres.

18.4.2008

Woke up to bed tea, a saucer of hot water to wash the essentials and finally breakfast. By 8 am we were ready to hit the trail…the first half was fairly easy, a little up and a little down, but about half way into it, it became all up hill, but before things got serious we stopped at a small cluster of huts for a cup of tea and biscuits. We then continued along and started coming upon blooming magnolia and rhododendrons with bright red and pink flowers…amazing beautiful with a back drop of drifting fog, green grass, and grazing horses and dzos (hydbrid between a yak and a cow)

When we made it to Tsokha we had a luxurious room with two thin matresses on the floor and a squat toilet behind the building for the three of us…. well luxurious might be the wrong word but we were more then satisfied with our humble abode. We shared an interesting lunch of french fries, dumplings, english style baked beans and spiced green beans followed by milk tea, while it may sound like an unappetizing combo it all came together quite nicely… we then took a short tour of the village to the monestary on the mountain overlooking a sacred “lake”, I would call it a pond, but beautiful non-the-less and then made a beeline for a hut that served Thomba and relaxed by the fire for a while waiting for the time to pass and dinner to come…very tough afternoon. We had dinner around 7pm and in bed by 9pm dreaming of the views to come and Boebr dreaming of playing chess or checkers or solving a puzzle or some such craziness with 72 Polish virgins…a joke throughout out trekk. According to Boebr Poland is 100% good Catholics who have only pure and clean thoughts and all of the bad Polish are sent to Germany, where they live with the other sinners….I hope you can sense the sarcasm here…although there is definitley a bit of truth to it.

19.4.2008

Today was a long day of hiking, ascending 1,000 metres to Dzongri! We were woken up at 5am to get a view of Kangchendzonga and Pandim…getting closer by the day. Why at 5am? Because sunrise is the best time of day to get views of the mountains after that it is more then likely going to be clouded over with fog. We were off and going slowly but steadily climbing up to our next destination, giving us a great view of Tsokha and the valley below.

For lunch we stopped at Phedang Meadow, hanging out with the dzos and horses and then kept climbing to Dzongri. The second half definitely more grueling then the first, mostly attributed to the higher altitude and having a full belly didn’t help. Dave was having a hard time at the end, really feeling the affects of altitude but pulled through and made it to Dzongri. When we got there we learned there weren’t enough rooms and were put in a room with another group- 2 guys: Marko from Hannover, Germany and Mika from Santa Barbara, CA…small world. We got along quite well and chatted the afternoon away with some tea and popcorn (apparently helps with altitude)… outside wasn’t all that inviting…cold, windy and foggy and went to bed pretty early because we weren’t feeling all to great and would be getting up bright and early to hike to a view point for the sunrise…oh goody

20.4.2008

Woke up at 4am for some bed tea and then very slowly and painfully started to climb the steep trail up to the view point, which for the normal person should take about 45 minutes, but took a bit more time and effort for us…because we are so special. We made it in time to see the sunrise over the mountains and it was absolutely worth the early morning torture if you ask me, I am not sure Dave would say the same. The view of the mountains and the fog filled valleys was stunning, straight out of a magazine, hard to believe we were actually there and this isn’t even the final view….

We then walked back and had some breakfast and relaxed for a bit and after begrudgingly went for a hike to Laximi Pokhri, a holy lake, which takes the average person about 2 1/2 hours each way, but as I said before we are special so it took us a bit longer….it wasn’t the most cheerful expereince but it was beautiful and it was good to get some exercise and force acclimatization…although some might argue that isn’t really possible. We got to see some true yaks grazing and walked through some ice and snow to get to the lake, which was almost frozen over completly. At this point we are both beginning to rethink this trip and not sure if we are cut out for the long haul to the top…we’ll just take it one day at a time.

21.04.08

(Dave takes the typing from here) We hiked from Dzongri to Thangsing, taking an easy four hours. I was definitely feeling better today, but now Jessica was starting to get a cold too! We spent the day blowing our brains out our noses along the whole path, leaving a gorgeous trail of snot along the way (so we could find our way back right?) The trail was quite stunning with an eerie fog all day through a forest of bright Rhododendron trees and other scary brown trees. It felt like something out of a Tim Burton movie. (We took few pictures to save battery, but got GREAT ones along the return a few days later). We reached Thangsing and learned that we had to hike another 6 hours to the final viewpoint at 1am in the morning! Then we quickly learned the hike didn’t have to be so long as there is another campsite two hours up river, but only tents allowed and our agency didn’t pack us one!!! We moped and whined, but to no avail, our guide couldn’t do anything to get us a tent, so we dreaded the next days Trek, but also highly anticipated it and the glorious view of the Himalayas we would have; we got as mentally prepared as possible knowing we couldn’t fail. We chatted for hours until dusk with our roommates Mika and Marko (again) and Boebr, then went to bed super early.

22.04.08

We awoke at midnight, but ended up not going because the visibility was crap. We slept in and after breakfast hiked 3+ hours to Samiti Lake where we should have hiked at midnight (still 3 hours below the viewpoint). It was a nice day and Samiti Lake was gorgeous, but the two of us were certainly dreading having to do this again tomorrow and THEN do three more hours to the viewpoint.

We chatted with some people who returned from the viewpoint, including some Canadians we met before at Dzongri and felt more confident because they said it wasn’t too hard. Still, most of them had the privilege of their guides bringing a tent to stay at the final campsite, which we didn’t have! After much discussing and problem solving, Jessica and I pushed our stubborn guide to let us sleep with the Mika and Marko from the nights before in their tent! Success! He finally agreed, but still proved he was not a very good guide by making us jump through flaming hoops to be able to do something that should have been done for us. We hiked two hours back to Thangsing where we ate lunch, then went back again two hours to the Lamuni campsite where it started raining. After five days of not showering I felt FILTHY. So I found a spot up river to squat naked in freezing hail/rain and clean myself with the ice cold river water and our Dr. Bromers bio-degradable organic soap! Needless to say, Jessica didn’t join me in my insane undertaking, but as numb as I was, at least I felt somewhat clean again. Sleep was erratic as we anticipated the hike early in the morning, but at least we get two and a half hours extra sleep that we would at Thangsing.

23.04.08

We were awoken by Boebr and Richard at 2:30am outside our tent. We ate a tiny breakfast of tomato/cheese sandwiches and began the ascent. We ascended 500 meters in about four grueling hours, but finally reached the viewpoint at 4,500 meters just as light started to crest the mountain peaks. It was absolutely stunning with pink sunrise trickling all over the white snow! The air was cold, but no wind which made it far more bearable. We took many pictures of Kongchendzonga and the surrounding peaks, and posed for pictures with a beedie from Richard (Indian cigarette) to simulate “getting high in the Himalayas.” I know we are too cheesy, but man is it fun. We didn’t stay as long as I’d hoped because clouds quickly rolled in, as they do everyday, but about four others continued on for another 500 meter ascension and 6 hours of roundtrip hiking to a bit closer of a spot. We simply couldn’t handle that, and the view we had was perfect enough, plus we didn’t want to risk fog just hanging around.

The way back was a lot longer than up because we had to go back to a campsite way down river. We stopped for lunch in Thangsing, but kept hiking another two hours after packing up. We finally arrived in Zemanthang around 2pm, nearly 12 full hours of hiking all day!!! Ugh were we tired, and after dinner and reading, fell fast asleep on the cold wooden floor!

24.04.08

We woke up less sore than imagined after so much hiking the day previous which was great. Tea and food in bed as usual, then headed out early, taking a new path which snaked along the mountain the whole time. Along the way we got spooked from behind by a dog that we played with MANY days before in Yuksom. We were amazed that he hiked so far, and weirded out that it found us all the way out there. We called him Red Panda, and hiked with him for the rest of the day.

There were many scenic spots along the way that we got to take pictures of this time since not worried about battery. Boebr insisted he take a shot of us under a gorgeous Rhododendron tree with red flowers all over, the picture looks like a prom photo or something.

We ended up again in Tsoka where we celebrated with everyone by buying our crew a round of Thombas at the local “bar” which is really just some ladies house who stores Millet for the drink and sells candy and soda brought from Yuksom! We chatted with all of them about their lives and found out surprisingly that most were our age between 18 and 23! We knew they were young, but not so young! Only our guide and Lakba spoke English so they translated as we tried to learn more about all their lives. Richard got really drunk and stumbled back to the hut, falling in the mud a few times, and Boebr had similar problems getting his boots stuck in mud and walking in his socks for a bit. Jess and I felt fine, though the Thomba is very strong, we just shared two, and have high Thomba tolerance.

25.04.08

Our final day trekking was a long one! We woke up early, had another delicious breakfast followed by a great lunch along the way and Boebr taught me silly sayings in Polish all day. There was nothing too eventful; it was rough on the knees going down all day, but there was more uphill than remembered which was fine. We happily arrived in Yuksom, stayed in the same place as before and had one final delicious meal, cake, and local rum to celebrate the completion of our Trek. Our crew sang some local songs and danced to our enjoyment, and our guide got far too drunk again and acted like an alcoholic. We gladly went to bed early.

26.04.08

Today we really saw the extent of Richard’s alcoholism. He was drunk from 5:30 am, woke us up at 6:30, then went to drink more as we wandered around, had a tasty local breakfast, induced a dog fight by feeding them (and then punishing the aggressor by cuddling only the dog he attacked), then hopped in a packed jeep taxi back to Darjeeling. Richard was embarrassing the whole way, people were amazed we got to the viewpoint after 5 days with such a drunk, but we told them he has only been like this the last couple days. He kept repeating himself and rocking like a rag doll all over people on the rocky road, thankfully he didn’t throw up, but was almost hit by a bus when he got out to pee in the road. We arrived in Darjeeling in good time, got our bags, and checked into a nice hotel. Later we saw Richard filthy drunk on the street, avoiding his wife and kids no doubt; and he always piously claimed to be such a good Christian, maybe since Easter is tomorrow he’s just celebrating early!!! HA HA HA, oh silly Richard, the real depressing part is that I’m sure the tip I gave him just went to booze. We used internet, but then it went out all over town, so we went to our room, watched some cheesy Bollywood film and slept.

27.04.08

We spent the whole day using internet. It was frustrating because it kept going in and out all over town again, and all the internet places are crap except one which only has three computers and is full sometimes, plus it is next to the sketchiest public bathroom we have EVER used; only a few slopped up concrete walls, a corner to poo in and urinals that just drain to the floor a foot below, pretty gross and smelly. Finally however, we got the blog up and a ton of pictures. Check them out on Flickr! There are some serious gems.

Aural, Ocular, and Nasal Anarchy! April 12, 2008

I think I just like the sound of those three words as sensory description…

08.April.08

Today was an insane day of travel. We spent the first part hanging around the island reading and eating and blog writing, etc, then hopped into a taxi for a 3 hour boat ride to mainland Thailand. Then a 12 hour bus ride throughout the night to Bangkok. We read then slept somewhat well.

08.April.08

We arrive in Bangkok at 5am, took a 45min taxi to the airport, then slept on our bags in the terminal for two hours until check-in opened. We checked in, waited two more hours and got on the plane for an hour and a half into Kolkata, India. The only entertaining part of the journey was a group of a dozen or so Indian men who had like 3 STUFFED bags each, including a big plasma screen TV for each, it was funny watching them argue about weight/bag limits with attendants, and trying to stuff huge carry-ons into overheads, then equally entertaining watching them unload everything in the arrival terminal. Most of the stuff was clothes and electronics, we have our theories about what they were doing, but it was a weird undertaking. We changed money, got a cell phone SIM card, and walked to the main street to catch a bus to the tourist area, Sudder St.

Strolling to the bus we witnessed a group of Indian men surrounding a cell phone and laughing like giddy little school boys. They motioned for me to come look and it was a video of a girl in her underwear dancing, I laughed hysterically at having just experienced my first group of sexually immature Indian men, good start to a weird new country. We hopped on an bus and unbeknown to me there was a ladies section separate from the men. Everyone was looking at me with big comical smiles on their faces, until the ticket collector finally told me I was, in fact, in the ladies section.

The bus ride was insanely hectic, yet strangely magnificent. There was something we noticed in the air; just like Bangkok there was lots of traffic, but in Thailand it is dead silent at all times, no honking ever, and no road rage, it was often eerie even. But in India, as we later learned, it is not only lawful, but required to honk one’s horn when anything comes near to their auto, or they deviate at all from a straight line, the result: an absolutely anarchistic cacophony of blaring horns AT ALL TIMES. The aural assault was accompanied by a likewise incredible ocular assault of street life. People are everywhere, cars swerve into each other all the time and near accidents among people and autos seem constantly imminent, the sidewalks are full of people eating, cooking, walking in the most vividly colorful clothes, naked babies, slum structures held up with wood scraps and plastic sheeting seemingly ready to collapse at a whim. These are the constant sights one sees in any taxi, bus, rickshaw (human or bike pulled), or tuk tuk. This is why people say you either love it here, or you hate it, and we both LOVE IT!

We arrived at the bus station near Sudder st. and wandered around trying to find hostels. After many people trying to offer accommodation, and after seeing a few rooms, we settled on a nice clean one higher up (where the air is nicer) for an amazing price of about $2/night. We used internet a bit, made plans, etc, then headed to what we thought was a hole in the wall restaurant along the sidewalk which we read about, and instead was directly behind the dirty sidewalk at a 5 star hotel. For the quality of the food it was WELL worth the price, but for India the food was expensive. It was all delicious, and I was certain, enjoying my scrumptious Thali, that we made the right choice coming to this country of beautiful scents, spice, and color. On the walk home a very persistent man pulling a rickshaw wished for us to ride with him which was an absolutely daft experience. The Rickshaw pullers are, as we learned, “Pavement Dwellers.” They sleep, eat, poop, pee, raise families, etc on the sidewalk. I am not kidding, ON the concrete sidewalk where everyone walks. It seems very sad to hear of I am sure, but these people are simply so beautiful, often very clean, healthy, and most of the time appear at least mostly content, sometimes outwardly happy. So with a big smile, a head wobble, and a heavy lift, the thin, muscular man; barefoot, wearing only a piece of cloth as a skirt and a small tank top, briskly carried us through the back alleys teaming with crazy nighttime activity. It felt awkward to be given such treatment, as if this man were a mule, but it is his only way to make money. Nonetheless I gave him equivalent to $1.25 in rupees after a 15 minute journey, more that double the price agreed on, and he seemed quite happy. I cannot over-emphasize, this country is wild!

09.April.08

We met up Biplob today, a Couchsurfer who could host us for the night, in his lovely house tucked right above a wild alleyway. He sent us out to visit the Queen Victoria monument and we stopped by to get train tickets to Darjeeling, our next stop, we also got lunch at a place specializing in delicious Biryani. It is our second crazy day in India. We learned of and saw more of the “pavement dwellers” and their lifestyles. I was followed for a long time by a very persistent child insisting I buy him food. I resisted only from all the things I’d heard about giving money or food, and them selling the food back for the money and giving it to their father who uses it to buy alcohol, or once I give one some money, I’ll get swarmed by others, like some beggar syndicate, etc. Still, after about 10 minutes I had to give the kid credit for persistence and I bought him a mango. The Victoria monument was beautiful, but the more beautiful part of the experience were the women dressed up for visiting in their vividly bright Saris of every color imaginable.

We took the metro back and met with Biplob and another Couchsurfer Lauren, a French girl, who breaks all bad French stereotypes, in other words, she’s awesome. We all chatted, and later got dinner at a street vendor who gave us delicious dhosas, uttapams, gulab jamuns, samosas, etc. Have I mentioned that we LOVE Indian food, more than even Thai food, and that’s saying a lot. We gave a little street boy some of our food and he followed us home almost the whole way wanting more (you give a mouse a cookie…). I learned that they always stick to me because I cannot help but smile at them while everyone else just ignores them. Anyway this kid got more of his friends and they all kept laughing and following me trying to get my food and when he grabbed on my arm I lifted my arm with him attached and carried him a ways, he LOVED it. They all kept laughing and I kept pulling the kid off the ground; it was something I never imagine I would experience, these children had their own little intricate lives living on the street, and I’ve learned that it is a life that can still be filled with laughter, love, and happiness, while I have come across so many super wealthy people in life who are sad, neurotic, and unfulfilled. Quite a mind blowing thing to experience.

So we learned a lot today from Biplop. Indian customs, Hindu traditions, etc, and we’ve planned out the rough skeleton of our trip, sticking mainly to the north to stay cool and avoid the oncoming monsoon.

10.April.08

We slept in for once (very nice) and hung out around the house for the middle part (the HOT part) of the day. We later headed to the Dakineshwar Hindu temple to my favorite god Kali! Kali is the brutal god I always take pictures of. She is blue with 4 arms, and is always drinking human blood, tongue sticking out, wearing a necklace of severed human heads and hands, she represents dark magic and destroying evil with “evil” power. Anyway it didn’t seem to different a ceremony to any other Hindu Puja, everyone lined up to see the deity on it’s throne and make offerings of flowers, food, etc. It was all gorgeous, but we couldn’t take pictures. After that we went to another holy place, Belur Mhat which was likewise gorgeous dedicated to a wise Yogi; no pictures allowed. We got back, had another great dinner, and back at the house all the lights went out which happens everyday, but this time something must have happened down the street because dozens of people started screaming, and dogs barking ferociously, it was like being in a apocalyptic zombie movie, scary for a bit there. The lights went on again after an hour and all was silent again.

Boom, Porn, Bee, Oil, L, Porntip. April 8, 2008

The title of this blog are just a few favorite name tags we’ve seen. Totally legitimate Thai names, pronounced different than one would think, but they spell some funny shit in English. Check out the guys nametag below:

1.April.2008

We decided today that traveling is just too much for us, and booked tickets back home in a week. We figured we’d just get home, get full time jobs and have a few kids. Jessica is already pregnant too so we have a head start. See you all in a week.

APRIL FOOLS!!!! Ha ha, that was fun, sorry I didn’t post it ON April Fools day. Here’s the REAL April first blog:

Today we woke up at a reasonable hour, instead of the usual half past dawn, and walked down for a great breakfast buffet at the hotel. We took advantage of the free hotel shuttle to Chaweng beach, which is where we would be staying if we weren’t lucky enough to be with my parents. Chaweng is where most of the backpackers stay, super crazy and hectic, the beach is packed from wall to wall with beach resorts, bars, restaurants, and massage booths. We walked around to check out the craziness and then slowed things down a bit with an hour long Thai massage on the beach, for the bargain price of 200 baht (7 USD)…it was an amazing massage, almost put me to sleep I was so relaxed.

After Chaweng we headed back to the hotel for a little rest and relaxation floating around in the pool and napping in the room. We had a late dinner at the hotel, on the balcony over looking the beautiful ocean vista and partook in happy hour, buy one get one free and were even serenaded by two Thai men and their guitars, doing great covers of all sorts of random songs…

2.April.2008

Today we split up and did our own things, mom and dad hung out at the pool and Dave and I went for a crazy little adventure to see the big Buddha. We were too cheap to take 400baht cab so we decided to walk and even tried to convince ourselves that it would be fun, but in the end it really wasn’t. It was a very hot day and we were walking along the road ( a good portion of it under some kind of construction) getting fumes in our face the whole way but we did it and I guess at least we got some exercise out of it. We stopped at a Wat along the way with huge statues of different gods, quite impressive. The big Buddha was quite impressive once we got there, it is on an island right off the coast of Koh Samui (yes another, littler island). Big golden statue surrounded by beautiful blue ocean. We then stopped for a well earned lunch and cold beer at a cute little restaurant nearby with a great selection of vegetarian options.

We opted not to walk back and took a tuk tuk for 200baht back to the hotel. Once we got back we threw on our suits and joined my parents at the pool, which felt great. Definitely made good use of the pool while we were there…for our last dinner together we caught a cab into town to Eat Sense, a restaurant recommended to us. Beautiful location right on the beach with hanging lanterns and all… the food was great and I got a delicious drink in a fresh coconut…after dinner we explored the area a bit, mom and dad buying a couple last minute souvenirs to bring home. We then headed back to the hotel and had one last beer in our room and then said goodnight.

3.April.2008

Today was spent traveling by all. After breakfast Regine and CB hopped in a taxi to the airport and begin their trip back home. Team Siebenjack (our official team name) got picked up an taken to the dock where we took a big boat to Koh Phangan chatting with a nice german girl along the way who likes to relax on the Phangan beach during the day and take lots of ecstasy and dance to rave music at night (I think our itinerary here will be a BIT different, but maybe only the ecstasy part).

We arrived in Phangan at dark, tired and having no clue where to stay. We tried a few nice looking places, some booked, some too pricey and settled with a cheap cheap bungalow right on the beach for 350 Bhat. It was a terrible night. The place had cockroaches, it smelled, very hot, and crappy music blasting in our ears from a nearby bar, but we finally settled into a crappy sleep.

4.April.08

We knew we must find a better place today so after a decent breakfast (Jessica eating typical western breakfast, porridge and Banana, and me with my asian breakfast of hot and spicy Tom Yum soup, emphasis on the YUM) we hunted down a better deal. We found a MUCH nicer room (not bungalow) which was especially cool, clean, and quiet, with a comfy bed and nice bathroom for 100 Bhat CHEAPER than the last place. That 100 Bhat must be because we moved back away from the beach by about 100 feet, oh what a gruelling hike it is! Now very satisfied with our diggs we spent a good amount of the day hanging out on the beach and contemplating what to do next. We had a terrific lunch at a hole in the wall, no name, Thai place, which cooked the BEST black pepper chicken I have ever had and ordered by mistake, using my broken Thai, and Jess had delicious coconut soup. We booked a boat trip to Aang Thong Marine Park for tomorrow and a boat to Koh Tao for the next.

Dinner was good and is always accompanied by a movie or US TV show, this time some enjoyable episodes of “Friends.” When the sun fell we hung around the beach, drank a bucket of cheap liquor (Thai whiskey with coke, red bull, and ice, in a big red bucket; an island favorite), listened to some sweet booming trance techno, and watched the single fastest fire dancer we have EVER seen. The fire dancing was incredible and this guy was simply insane. Tatooed and ripped from head to toe, constantly dripping in sweat, this Thai local didn’t even take a break when not spinning flaming sticks, chains, balls, because he would simply sit there and flip around a coke bottle with lightning speed. Speaking of lightning, the background lightning made the ambience that much cooler, though the thunder couldn’t be hear over the booming music. We slept much nicer in our cool, comfy new room.

5.April.08

Woke up early to taxi to a pier where we hopped on our packed boat for a day of exploring and snorkeling. The hour plus journey to the island was mildly miserable being dumped on by a torrent of cold rain, though it did feel good to be COLD for once! The trip was very fun; the snorkeling not too great but the waters were crazy clear. The whole archapelago was stunning with really dramatic rock formations, no wonder parts of the movie “The Beach” were filmed here as well as in Koh Phangan. We did some hiking on one island, and had a tasty lunch on another where I befriended a little lizard.

The group was a very strange mix of about 20 people. Two Aussies we instantly befirended, some germans, a thai family with a really cute little kid, and a really odd hungarian family. The Hungarian family was our favorite; the mom was super posh and made-up for the trip, she had HUGE fake tits and tiny little bikini, a skinny body (and after having TWO kids). On the trip back to Koh Phangan we hit a big wave and all her junk fell out and bobbed all over as she stumbled to the calmer back of the boat. It was a fun show for all (especially the giddy Thai family who will tell the story for years), but the most impressive part was how absolutely shameless she was about it. She didn’t even give an unnecessary apology like most would, or become embarrassed, she simply made a little laugh and readjusted her balloons back in place. I instantly loved her for that and realized I had misjudged her by her plastic looks; she actually spoke about five languages including German and English which we chatted in about Hungary and E. Europe for the trip home.

Back on Phangan we watched more fire dancing after dark, drank another whiskey bucket, and went to bed.

6.April.08

We took an early boat trip on a massive boat to the third, smallest, and final island of the trio; Koh Tao. We instantly liked it better than the other two because of the truly relaxed atmosphere, beautiful street dogs, and neat, eclectic little bungalows and hostels down the cozy main street. We got a great deal on a bungalow with a hammock in which I laid and read in while stroking my new best friend; a large bulldog I named Achilles (speaking of, as I was typing that line he JUST walked by the internet center I am in and I ran out to pet him…weird). We had some great lunch overlooking the pristine beach, booked our trip back to Bangkok in two days, and got info about an ATV tour around the island we wished to take tomorrow. Then we laid around the beach for a good amount of the day, enjoying the weather and the topless Scandinavian and Dutch girls around us (perhaps I enjoyed it more than Jessie, but I’m sure she snuck a glance now and again).

Dinner was terrific with a beautiful ambiance as all the electricity went out and we ate by candlelight and flames along the beach. After dinner we walked along the fire-lit alleyways to a cheap Thai massage place where we experienced delicious hour massages for 300 Baht each ($10). Thai massages are always great and involve stretching, back cracking, pressure points, etc. We thoroughly enjoyed our first day on Koh Tao and slept very well under our mosquito net.

07.April.08

Today we rented an ATV and all the gas we needed to go around the island. For the concerned parents; yes we wore helmets, especially after we’ve seen so many tourists in arm/leg/head bandages from motorbike accidents. The whole day was terrific and at times terrifying and miserable when we got stuck or lost in the horrendous heat!!! We met up with a nice Canadian on a motorbike and all road together in a “you watch my back, I’ll watch yours.”

The beaches around the island were fantastic, the snorkeling only moderate as the coral and fish life wasn’t too impressive, but the scenery was breathtaking, especially from a really high point on the island where some major resort construction is going on which cleared the way for an awesome view of the island. We also had a great view of the waters and “Shark Island” from where we ate lunch. All very serene and not too many tourists on the more remote parts of the island, but LOTS of construction. The roads were a bit dodgy in many areas, and we even tipped the AV on it’s side at one point, but we were going very slow and safe and jumped off in time, damaging nothing. Luckily we didn’t get burned as we constantly reapplied sunscreen, but DAMN was it hot, the sun scorched the skin.

We got back to mainland and ate dinner completely exhausted, falling asleep shortly after with thoughts of the HUGE journey tomorrow from Koh Tao to India. Taxi to boat to long night bus ride to plane from Bangkok to Kolkata!

Well that’s it for now. I added TONS more pictures to Flickr.com of the three islands. Enjoy!

Operation: Elephant Wang April 1, 2008

21.March.08

Charlie (our CS host) flew to Malaysia today for a DJ gig leaving just the two of us his apartment for the weekend, talk about generosity!!! After a short walk around the neighborhood, where we were certainly the only white folk for miles, we found an excellent noodle vendor. One couldn’t call it a restaurant exactly as there is no official name and only a couple plastic tables and seats, but they have a big wok with tons of fresh veggies and cook absolutely terrific noodles, filling us both up for 40 Bhat (maybe $1.50). We spent most of today on the internet typing the last blog and meeting a really cute street dog outside that I played with extensively (fleas be dammed!).

We headed to Kao San where I went on a bit of a shopping “frenzy.” I got new sunglasses, a Job for a Cowboy T-Shirt (which is an obscure Death Metal band I like that I am surprised they had a shirt of), and some souvenirs for friends. We also discovered a terrific vegetarian place a bit out of the touristy part where the more “hippy” backpackers hang out. The place is called May Kaidee’s and we met May who teaches cooking classes every day. I had an unforgettable shitake mushroom soup and Jess a likewise tasty dish. Later that night we met at a super fancy club with other Couchsurfing travelers and hosts. It was kind of boring; the live music was great, but loud and impeded us from getting to talk much, and after an hour or so they all went out salsa dancing, which sounded about as much fun to us as sliding down razorblades into a pool of lemon juice. So we took the train home and contemplated how boring and old we are because we don’t like getting plastered and grind against sweaty people at a club, like all the other kids our age do.

22.March.08

We went to the famous Chatuchuk markets today which is a place where anything from T-Shirts, massages, & touristy trinkets to human slaves can be purchased (maybe not human slaves, but with nearly a thousand stalls filled with cheap merchandise, one’s gotta have a deal for slaves somewhere in there). We bought more souvenirs and I bought a really nice, cheap bag (everything is cheap, especially when you bargain!). Bangkok as we’ve learned is an okay city with lots of pollution, some interesting attractions, but mainly cheap shopping (and we usually hate shopping, but it’s all just too cheap to pass up, and stuff friends and family back home will love). It was hotter than hell today (though I think hell is getting colder from global warming or something, I don’t know I’m not an expert). It was one of those days where you step outside and your shirt instantly clings to your back with sweat, but we’re pretty much used to it by now, Jess bought a little fan to help. Finished off the day of shopping in the maze of merchandise with some noodles at our new favorite place, then hung out, read a lot, and slept (we’re best at that).

23.March.08

We took a taxi in the morning to the Riverfront apartments to meet Jessie’s parents (CB and Regine) at noon. It was good to see more people from back home again! We took them to Chatuchuk and this time saw even more of the insanity than we saw before. Chatuchuk is not the sort of place you can see all of in one day; the markets take up like 8 blocks long and 4 blocks wide, it would take a half an hour to speed walk end to end, and zig-zagging through the labyrinth of shops would take more than a full day. We entered through a different section this time; the animal section. This experience was both depressing and exciting at the same time. There were far too many puppies, kitties, bunnies, and squirrels (yes squirrels; little flying squirrels too, sugar gliders) all taken from their mothers WAY too early. They were suffering as well in hot heat and sometimes in terrible conditions where there were even dead animals in cages with live ones. Some stalls even had rarities like peacocks in cages, rare tropical fish, and later we read in the news that vendors that day were arrested selling endangered animals like two Madagascar turtles on the brink of extinction worth a couple million bucks. It was very sad, but good to hear the police are doing something about it, and it’s just a matter of time before animal rights groups step in. Jess and Regine got a long foot massage while CB & I bought more souvenirs for them to bring back home to friends.

We headed back to our very nice apartment building, though quite a distance from town, and had dinner overlooking the river and city. We got some groceries and got CB a good sampling of Asian beers, namely Singha, Tiger, and Chang. We drank a bunch of beer in the living room of our two bedroom apartment and talked about our travels and plans for the next couple of weeks. Then CB and Regine spent their first night ever in SE Asia!

24.March.08

After an okay buffet breakfast at the apartment building we headed into the main city. (The apartment building by the way is very complex. It is in a clump of tall apartment buildings, has a mall underground, a pool, restaurants, a hotel-like lobby, etc. It is more like a hotel for long stays, like business, but reasonably priced and very nice and clean). We went to the Grand Palace which is the labyrinth of Wats (temples), European, Thai, and hybrid style living quarters, and covered in murals and statues depicting Chinese and also Hindu history and mythology. The main attraction is an intricate statue of the Buddha carved entirely of Jade and changes clothes in different seasons…with magic (monks might help out too, and I don’t know what its clothes look like when it changes as it’s pretty much only one season here; varying levels of HOT, so I assume Buddha doesn’t wear a scarf or anything). Part of the palace was closed because the king’s sister just died (really you hadn’t heard? I thought everyone knew). Overall the palace was pretty incredible. From the pictures however it will look even more incredible as close up it’s a little ‘too much’ sometimes, bordering on tacky; maybe a bit too much gold leaf and glitter some places.

After the Grand Imperial Palace we went to a tasty lunch followed by an exhilarating boat ride. We sped through the back alley canals of Bangkok seeing a lot of very Thai style homes staked in the water. It was very fun and was the most authentic taste of Bangkok we’ve had yet. Many of the houses had beautiful little spirit houses outside sitting in the water. Spirit houses are something the Buddhists put outside every structure where the spirits can live in harmony, and they make offerings to it. The Thai’s are especially fond of these little structures because they are terrified of ghosts. After the boat trip we landed at the reclining Buddha, a huge statue of Siddhartha lying on his side and painted all in gold. It was nice, but nothing mind-blowing, and as massive as it is, it’s only the 2^nd largest reclining Buddha in the world.

We got back to our place then left again to eat at Cabbages and Condoms; a quirky little place downtown with good food, live Thai music, and fun décor maximizing the use of condoms, birth control pills, and other contraceptives. Instead of a dinner mint…how about a free condom? How’s that for spreading AIDS awareness!

25.March.08

We spent a good portion of the day at a travel agent and planned the next leg of the trip with Regine and CB. After we brought them to our favorite little vegetarian Thai place May Kaidee’s near Khao San then wandered around Khao San a bit afterwards. We spent a bit of the day just relaxing and ate dinner at Bua near the hotel where we had terrific Tom Yam (very spice-full and spicy Thai soup/noodle with prawn dish), and I ate a wonderfully unique Wild Boar curry. I say unique not because it was Wild Boar, but because it was served with the skin still attached and the meat and skin in the form of a watermelon wedge. I had to eat out the meat and pile up the way too chewy skin which, to add an extra level of weird, one could still see the hair follicles inside it’s translucency; I ate the whole dish…yummy!

26.March.08

We took an early bus to Ayutthaya, the old capitol of Thailand until the Burmese came and smashed everything, leaving some sweet ruins of Wats and palaces. We had a really funny guide who spoke hysterical broken English and repeated himself a lot (we think he just ran out of things he could say, but felt he needed to keep talking, but we loved him, he was SO energetic and had a huge smile at all times). The first Wat was a very old Wat restored by monks with grand brick and stone architecture. The most impressive of the day was the ancient royal palace with the very dramatic cone spires and gorgeous ruins. The new palace of Pa-In was not so impressive. It is the modern summer home of the royal family, and felt a bit like Disneyland (especially riding around in a golf cart) with rather dull European architecture, probably pretty to someone who has never seen European buildings, but altogether the grounds felt like just any old wealthy mansion. Nice, but nothing new, and far from Thai except for the massive spirit house island.

We took a nice boat ride back into Bangkok accompanied by a westernized Thai meal (Mai Pet = No Spice = BORING). It wasn’t that bad, but when you’re used to more authentic spicy Thai food, it was just okay, good for westerners who absolutely can’t handle any spice. We hung out at the hotel, ate dinner there and off to bed.

27.March.08

We took a tour to the unforgettably unique floating markets outside of Bangkok. It is a series of canals where many vendors float in canoes selling their wares; originally just crops and other goods, but since tourism, now a lot of souvenirs get sold from the boats. It was really wild to experience, especially when we got a boat ride through the canals. Though we didn’t buy much except some delicious fried bananas (have I mentioned yet that bananas in every shape and form are EVERYWHERE in Thailand, no wonder the Hindu’s and Buddhists can so easily afford to leave them as sacrifice for the spirits to eat), some fresh lychees, fresh mangoes (also thoroughly abundant), as well as a set of fisherman’s pants for Jess and Regine, it was well worth the experience to boat through such colorful maritime chaos.

We went to another touristy woodcarving place on the way back which was pretty neat since some of the carvings were stunningly intricate on deep wood panels and all being carved by hand. All were too expensive to buy, mainly tables and chairs or wood carved 3-D murals, but I’m sure quite a good price for the quality. We got back and Jess and Regine got a Mother/Daughter foot massage, then we did laundry, ate dinner, and packed up to get ready to leave Bangkok which we were all very ready to do. Bangkok has been great, but just VERY polluted and quite difficult to get around.

28.March.08

We taxied to the airport and flew to Suratthani right on the outskirts of the major national Rainforest Khao Sok. The flight was quick and easy and when we arrived at the hotel we mainly hung around, chatted, and drank some beers. We explored a nearby mall and were stunned by how similar it was too Wal-Mart, something we especially didn’t expect in this odd little town. The hotel is very nice and reasonably priced, but we didn’t do too much extraordinary today.

29.March.08

We went to the Lobby and dropped off our main luggage at the front desk, bringing only essentials for our 2 day 1 night jungle journey in Khao Sok. In the lobby we were confronted by a driver who said to us “You need ride,” we responded “Yes, to Khao Sok,” and realized this was a mistake. We realized we should have let him say where he was supposed to take us because now we feared he was just a regular taxi and not our scheduled shuttle bus, especially because in his minimal English he responded “Taxi, yes, Taxi.” His minibus certainly wasn’t a typical taxi, but it did not say Siam Safari on it (our tour company), in fact he didn’t seem to know what Siam Safari was. We had our heads filled with some elaborate scam where he’d drive us an hour in the opposite direction then charge to take us back, but after a few calls and many apologies for being paranoid, he ended up just being a hired driver to take us in his pleasant minibus where we needed to go.

Khao Sok was instantly awesome. We stayed in palm thatched roof bungalows with hot water and nice clean beds, two hammocks outside, a cute dog, two cute cats, and friendly goats that loved licking the sweat off my arms. Lunch was delicious Thai food, a bit westernized, but authentic enough to be super yummy! We got situated, read in the hammocks a bit, then headed for our day adventure of kayaking and elephant rides through the rainforest jungle. The kayaking was great, and though I was disappointed that I didn’t get to paddle (I hate being papered and it’s more fun to do it yourself) the guide who paddled us was excellent at picking out the King Cobras and Boas in the trees…no monkeys though *frown.* The river and surrounding mountains and jungle were stunning, and the scorching heat was kept at bay with hats, glasses and lots of sun block. One point on the trip we got tea, snacks, and a place to swim in the mud brown river and swing off a rope-swing, fun stuff. After an hour and a half tour it was over and we were back in our military-like truck to meet some elephants.

The elephant ride was an absolutely phenomenal adventure. Our elephant trainers were the real deal, and only a dozen or so years ago were forced from elephant logging to tourist rides due to restrictions. They may make more money now, but as un-environmental as it sounds, I imagine they had much more fun logging as it required much more skill and brain power than hauling honkies like us up and down through the jungle. They were however extremely nice aside that they spoke no English; they were excellent elephant handlers and controlled movements with a scary looking metal spike on its head (very thick skinned though and without a sharp jab the elephants wouldn’t even feel it). They rode on its head and could get up and down at a whim by getting the elephant to bow forward. At some point there were massive bolts of lighting with thunder sounding like Thor splitting a mountain in half with a hammer (we’ve been around Scandinavians a lot in the last month) and torrential rains. It made the whole experience even more exciting. Speaking of exciting, Regine and CB’s elephant was in a constant state of excitement with his protruding ‘fifth leg’ that puts even the most well-endowed like Ron Jeremy to shame. I know for some of you readers this topic may seem gross, but take my word for it, to see such a gargantuan grey wang in person is really quite humbling.

We ended our terrific jungle adventures with another delicious meal at the lodge by the bamboo fueled fire. Throughout the meal we were entertained by Geckos on the lights eating small insects above our heads and a Thai guide who brought in a frog and cicada for me to play with (everyone else was too scared to touch; though even I got freaked out and dropped the frog when it peed all over my hand). Throughout the evening we saw a stunning sunset and an absolutely entrancing electrical storm with lightning bolts performing maneuvers I have never seen, such as spiraling in the sky or covering a massive area like a spider web, followed by more Thor-like thunder. A terrific day, and after a few beers and some whiskey we slept very well.

30.March.08

Regine felt a bit sick today so Jess, CB, and I went with a small group and a great English tour guide for a jungle trek. All night were torrential rains with booming thunder so the muddy clay ground was quite soaked making it even more beautiful, but forcing us to perform acrobatics during the hike as not to get our shoes soaked. Our guide provided a wealth of knowledge about jungle crabs, monkeys, snails, poison dart frogs, elephants, plants that will make your arm feel on fire for a day after brushing its leaves, bamboo that stabs fungus and bacteria in you, temporarily paralyzing where contact is made, and other such fun facts of the death and pain that surrounded us at all times; it was awesome…as long as one stayed on the path. He gave a great lesson about rubber trees and their cultivation. Rubber plantations make up 30% of Thailand’s GDP, and another 30% is tourism and 98% of the Thai rubber, which is just the tree sap harvested like maple syrup, goes to making condoms and surgical gloves. After an hour of informative and light hiking (which was nowhere near the devastating heat and uphill root climbing of Taman Negara, but nonetheless quite hot) we stopped for probably the best lunch we have had in all of Thailand.

A Thai guide went ahead of us earlier to set up cooking supplies at a small overhang. We got a terrific lesson on authentic Thai cooking using all native ingredients and all the eating and drinking utensils were straight from the rainforest. Coconut bowls, banana leaf plates and table cloth covering a bamboo table, bamboo cups, etc; it was all mind-bogglingly simple, yet beautifully elegant, efficient, and all 100% biodegradable. He cooked with coconut, shallots, turmeric, Thai ginger, spicy peppers, lemon grass, etc. We ate a Tom Yam-like soup was made with chicken, as well as fried pork, coconut and spiced scrambled eggs, all absolutely incredible. We had fun conversation over lunch about Thai people and their spiritual beliefs and Buddhist philosophy as well as the native jungle Thai and their animal and tree spirits. As usual however, we couldn’t help but all agree that most religion is pretty silly, an opiate of the masses if you will, and causes as much, if not more harm than good, however Buddhism, in the majority of its forms is not a religion as I used to think, but simply an open-minded and critically thinking philosophy that heavily encourages all followers to steer clear of any dogma and always think for yourself, never accepting blindly what anyone else says. This made a lot of sense from the mentality of the Thai and Malaysian Buddhists that we have met so far, but it is still a set of beliefs and is, as always, interpreted however the believer wishes, not, in the end, all that different from any other set of beliefs I suppose, but it sounds like beautiful ideas and teachings nonetheless.

We made our way back to civilization, seeing tons of gorgeous fungus along the way and a quite rare stinky flower that when it blooms at some point smells of rotting flesh to attract flies; thankfully it was not one of those blooming days. We waded through a knee deep river, getting a bit wet, but the scorching sun dried our clothes in mere minutes. After packing up again we were back on a bus back to Suratthani and to our same hotel. We had a few beers, talked, watched some TV, and wrote a bunch for the blog.

31.March.08

We spent most of the day traveling by Tuk Tuk to a bus station than by bus to pier then by a huge and beautiful boat to Koh Samui then by Taxi to our hotel. Koh Samui is an island right along with the infamous Koh Panang and Koh Tao, also just short boat ride to the island where “The Beach” was filmed. Our hotel is splendid with nice pools, great views and tons of great tropical bird and frog sounds at night. We relaxed at the pool a good amount of time upon arrival, then ate at a fancy place downtown with a killer chicken and cashew dish. We had some beers back at the hotel and headed to bed early, quite tired from a day full of travel. It is a strange thing that sometimes the days of just sitting around on a bus/boat/taxi etc, are often more exhausting than the days full of activity.

Whew…that’s a long one! I just put up a ton of Flickr pictures from the last couple weeks. Check them out at the link to the right.